13/08/2022 - Stage 7 from Savnik to Podgorica/Montenegro (97 kilometers)

We were awakened by cows, sheep, and goats because we stayed overnight at a Montenegrin farmhouse. We packed everything again and made our way towards the capital. But before that, we made a stop at the Ostrog Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1656 by Vasilija Jovanovic, the bishop of Herzegovina. He came here after his monastery in Bosnia and Herzegovina was destroyed by the Turks. He wanted to make his new monastery impregnable, so he built it with the help of other monks in two caves in the middle of the mountain at an altitude of 900 meters. Vasilija lived here until his death and today the body of the saint is kept here. The monastery is one of the most important monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church and is now well-known beyond the European borders. Orthodox, Catholics, and Muslims pilgrim to this magical site. Some walk up the steep, rocky path barefoot as a sign of humility, just as the pilgrims did in the past. We tried to drive up by car. We failed, we eventually couldn't go any further because there were too many cars in line. We parked and walked the rest of the way up. Endless queues of people waiting to get a glimpse of the interior of the monastery. It would have taken us at least 3 hours of waiting, so we enjoyed the view from the outside and the amazing view over the Bjelopavlicko plain, and then walked back down. We continued to Podgorica. The capital of Montenegro has just under 200,000 inhabitants and not much else to offer besides many high-rise buildings. But we had a very nice apartment for one night and made use of the washing machine here. In the late afternoon, we went out, had a coffee, and had Asian food for the first time in a long time. Then we discovered a few more interesting things. The Ribnica Bridge is the oldest bridge in the city and was built by the Romans in the 16th century. Unfortunately, at this time of year, the bridge only led across a dry riverbed. The Millennium Bridge is a 173-meter-long cable-stayed bridge over the Moraca River and is considered a landmark of the city. We walked past the office of the government, a statue of King Nikola I Petrovic, and Republic Square. Back to the accommodation, we went through a street with trendy bars, a park, and over the Moscow Bridge, which was 60% financed by Russia and is a gift to the city. And then we went to sleep because we had quite a muscle ache from canyoning.